Parents Guide for The Exorcism (2024)
Overview “The Exorcism” is a horror film featuring themes of demon possession, addiction, and family dynamics. It stars Russell Crowe as Anthony, an actor who is attempting to revive his career while grappling with personal demons—both literal and metaphorical.
Content Warnings
- Violence & Scary Content
- The film includes numerous jump scares and intense supernatural elements.
- Graphic violence is depicted, including:
- A character impaled in the eye with a shard of glass.
- Strangulation and physical assaults, such as a woman being thrown across a room.
- Characters exhibiting self-harm behaviors, like bashing their heads against surfaces.
- A demon being stabbed with a cross and bleeding black blood.
- Various unsettling contortions of bodies accompanied by disturbing sound effects.
- Language
- The dialogue contains sporadic strong language, including multiple uses of profanity such as “f–k,” “s–t,” and other vulgar terms.
- There are exclamatory uses of religious names that may be considered offensive to some viewers.
- Substance Use
- The main character struggles with alcohol and drug dependency:
- Scenes depict Anthony consuming large amounts of whiskey and references to cocaine use.
- Other characters are shown smoking cigarettes, cigars, and marijuana.
- There are mentions of prescription medication usage.
- The main character struggles with alcohol and drug dependency:
- Sexual Content
- There are flirtations and brief kissing scenes between characters.
- Strong sexual-related dialogue occurs but is not graphically depicted.
- Themes
- The film explores heavy themes such as addiction recovery, familial estrangement, trauma from past abuse (specifically related to the protagonist’s experiences as an altar boy), and the psychological impacts of these experiences on relationships.
- Positive Messages
- While there are minimal positive messages presented throughout the film, Anthony’s struggle for sobriety can be seen as admirable. However, his journey is complicated by his ongoing battles with addiction and supernatural forces.
Parents should consider the graphic nature of violence, strong language, substance abuse themes, and mature content when deciding if this film is appropriate for younger audiences.
